


Silver And Gold

by Weallfadeaway



Category: Haven (TV)
Genre: Angst and Porn, Complicated Relationships, Drama & Romance, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Fluff, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Beta Read, Supernatural Elements, non-canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:49:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28455618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weallfadeaway/pseuds/Weallfadeaway
Summary: (Duke/Dwight) It had been a few days since it had happened. There had been a trouble unleashed on Haven and I had been one of the lovely citizens that had been affected that day. We were nervous around each other and we hadn't been able to make eye contact since. And nosy Nathan wasn't giving up on finding out the reason why.
Relationships: Duke Crocker/Dwight Hendrickson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a few days since it had happened. There had been a trouble unleashed on Haven and I had been one of the lovely citizens that had been affected that day. A few random people at the coffee bar were also traumatized by the event, but the police chief and I... well, let's just say, things were awkward. We were nervous around each other and we hadn't been able to make eye contact since. And nosy Nathan wasn't giving up on finding out the reason why.

This had been a different case he and Audrey had dragged me on currently... something to do with a fire bug running around the town and destroying new businesses. Truth be told, it seemed kind of sad. I mean, I'm not even the cop here and I have it all figured out already. All the places that got hit have displays of local art. I bet it was some creepy kid who got mad that they wouldn't show his _'masterpieces'_ , so he did... _this_. I would tell the other two... eventually. It was just fun at the moment, watching those two running around, collecting needless evidence.

Well, at least it _was_ fun... until I saw _him_ walking up.

"Dwight! Have you heard anything? Any leads? Any suspects?" Nathan asked, as he approached from the opposite direction.

"Not yet. I have a small group sifting through the traffic light videos and security cameras. It was a well lit, well populated area so, whoever this person is, they couldn't seriously think that no one would catch anything." Dwight replied, "Don't worry, bud. I'll make sure you are my _first_ call when I find anything out."

When Nathan looked back to me, he noticed my eyes were drawn to the radio, the floor, anywhere that _wasn't_ outside of that window where Dwight was standing. He walked up and knocked on the glass. I rolled it down, trying my best to look at Nathan and not Dwight, but it was kind of hard to miss a guy _that_ big. My face flushed the second I saw his and I knew it, so I began fumbling with the radio again, nervously.

I think Nathan was too stupid to know anything, but he definitely liked seeing me squirming in my seat for whatever reason. I asked, "So, what's up, Nate? Are we heading out of here yet or what? Because I got to get back to the Gull soon."

"Funny you should say that, I was going to ask if you two wanted to come over to Audrey's later and have a barbeque out on the deck." Nathan suggested, looking back and forth between Dwight and I with a nefarious grin.

Huh. Maybe he _did_ know more than I thought.

Unnerved about the idea, almost clenching my teeth, I replied, "Well, it's such a short commute and all... why not?"

 _Why not!?_ I will tell you why not! Because Dwight was going to be there. I couldn't be around him right now and try to act normal. Right there, in that moment, was a good test to that. But it's not like I _couldn't_ go. Then Nathan and Audrey would definitely know something was up.

Dammit, why? _W_ _hy_ did he have to invite Dwight!?

"Yeah, I got nothing planned." the chief had answered, before adding, "Call if you need me to pick up anything on the way."

Well, that was Dwight. Always the helpful hand. And, man, _do_ I remember those hands and just how _badly_ they wanted to help me that night. How they felt against my aching skin. It was...

God, _no!_ I couldn't be thinking about Squatch like _that_. It had to just be remnants from that trouble she afflicted us with. That girl from the other day had the power of suggestion, and it was messing with my mind, badly. The memories of how his calloused fingers felt, the scratchiness of his stubble against my skin... that hazel green of his eyes that grew almost gold when I...

But _no!_ If she never had suggested that it happen, then we _never_ would have... not in a _million_ years! ...Right?

Later on, at Audrey's, Dwight and I had done very well at avoiding each other's eye contact or engaging in any type of conversation where we'd actually have to interact. I wasn't proud of it, but I had some practice with this once or twice in high school. It was what I called _'the avoid-dance.'_ Let's just say... tequila became my enemy far, _far_ too soon in life and I was ashamed of how poorly I'd treated some of the girls and pretty much all of the guys in my past. But I thought I had gotten passed stuff like this; I _really_ had!

After a few hours, mostly everyone had left. Audrey and Nathan were making googly eyes at each other off in the kitchen somewhere, which left me alone out on the deck with the one person I did _not_ want to talk to.

I knew I wouldn't be that lucky, though. Hell, am I ever?

"Hey, Duke... listen..." he started.

"Just, please... Can we _please_ forget about the whole thing, Squatch?"

"Well, it might make it a lot easier if you would even look at me. Everyone's starting to notice, Duke. They're starting to ask questions about what happened."

"And you've been telling people!?" I asked, hastily, my head snapping in his direction.

He smiled, "No. God, no! What do you think I do, huh? Go plastering it on a billboard? Geez, what is wrong with you? Besides... don't you normally do this kind of thing?"

I had to admit, it had hurt a little at his assumption. I was trying my best not to show it, but I could hear my breath hitch, holding back a sob when I said, "I don't know if that's what you run off doing with your buddies, but I don't."

"Look, man..." Dwight started. I think he had noticed the change in tone when I spoke also, because he seemed to soften up a bit. He picked up his hand and, for a minute, I thought he was going to put it on top of mine in an attempt for comfort. But it seemed he had second-guessed whatever he was going to do and went for his beer awkwardly, sipping it before he had continued, "All I'm saying is that you need to relax. It wasn't _that_ big of a deal. We were under the power of that girl's trouble. It's not like it was really _us_ , you know."

 _That's_ what the problem was, though! That he was acting like all of this was so casual when it wasn't. This was something I legitimately had a reason to freak out over, in my opinion. How could Dwight be acting so nonchalantly about the whole thing? This was huge.

I couldn't take it anymore. All of this was starting to make me feel sick to my stomach. Or maybe I had just had a little too much to drink, but the circumstances weren't helping with that. God, _why_ did I let those stupid assumptions Dwight had about me bug me so badly? Don't you _want_ your buddies to think that you do things like this? Isn't that what made you cool? I guess that _was_ cool in my twenties, but I had more important things to worry about now. Hell, I _always_ had more important things to worry about! I lived in Haven!

I was too irritated to continue conversing with our police chief, so I decided to simply get up and walk out, back to the Rouge. I was hoping some sleep would help straighten my head of everything, although I'm not sure that's _exactly_ what I got.

I drifted to sleep the second my head hit the pillow, but all I could see when I began dreaming were his eyes so close to mine, green with flecks of brilliant gold. That gold would come out, almost take over sometimes. Nothing supernatural, like when my eyes turned silver. His were natural; I think his mood affected the color of his eyes mostly. I'd noticed it before... that midnight blue undertones that were there hiding in the shadows decided to pop out more when he was feeling upset or sad. But the gold, that only came out when he was extremely passionate about something. I noticed it once or twice before when he'd gotten angry. But this time I got to see his eyes change when he got overstimulated or extremely excited... and they were beautiful.

His fingers trailed along my ribs before running up my chest and into my hair, tugging it gently, but using it as an anchor to hold him in place. I could feel his breath, deep panting gasps against my cheek, my lips. His lips... centimeters away, but they seemed like _miles_. The closer I got, the further they were. He whispered my name, but it didn't sound right. It had almost sounded like...

Was that a bell? No, wait! Chimes, maybe? I just couldn't place it, for a moment, but then it struck me... it was...

That's when I had shot up in my bed, my ringtone repeating incessantly. My phone. _That's_ what I had been hearing. I almost wanted to pick it up and chuck it across the room like a football, but I had decided that, considering the dream I was having, I should be sending whoever interrupted a fruit basket. The call was from Audrey saying that she had left my rent check in something I used as a secret hiding spot up on deck. Only she and a few select others knew about it, so I knew it had been safe there for the hour or two since she dropped it off.

I made my pot of coffee and headed out to grab the check, but when I reached inside the hiding spot, there were two things there. One was clearly Audrey's check, but the other was a small yellow piece of paper, folded up so much that it was tiny. It seemed odd to me, but I put it in my pocket, not yet awake enough to comprehend anything but how to find a cup and pour. But when I sat down to sip my coffee and had woken up some, I decided to check out that note and see what it was.

By the wear in the creases of it, I could tell it had been folded and unfolded a number of times. The paper was wearing away in spots from erasing and rewriting over and over. It seemed like an important message that someone wasn't sure they wanted me to have, yet all it said on it was, "Meet me here at 8:00."

No signature, but I already knew who left it. Dwight.


	2. Chapter 2

The nervousness I was feeling had been eating at me all day; I couldn't sit still. My mind was racing so fast, yet all I could think about was one thing. One _person_ , really. Why did Dwight have to talk about this? I thought I had made it clear that I wanted to forget it ever happened, erase it from the history books. I wasn't sure that was something Dwight could do, unfortunately. Not anymore. He was the "sweep it under the rug" guy at one time in his life, but new titles he'd gained were taking things like that out of his daily agenda. I also had the feeling when it came to romantic matters, he was a 'lay it all out on the table' kind of guy. So I _knew_ what his intentions were when it came to our scheduled discussion... damn him and his good heart! I knew that he had to be feeling like he possibly did or said something wrong and that _had_ to be why I was so upset. And yes, I _had_ been upset the night prior, but Dwight was not the reason why... _I_ was. There was nothing that _he_ had to do to set things right, because, as far as I was concerned, he hadn't made a mistake. Unless he kept persisting this issue, _t_ _hen_ we would have a problem.

Also, I wasn't sure why Dwight insinuating I was some kind of man whore last night had bothered me so badly either, but it had. It's not like I had attended many parties _alone_ in the past, but I wasn't exactly 'rolling' in the ladies. Or guys either, for that matter. Not many people actually _knew_ I was bisexual; it was a fact I felt somehow obligated to hide ever since I was young, probably due to damaging psychological leftovers from my parents. I had always tried to show as much interest in girls as possible, so that no one questioned any other possibility, but now that I looked back on it, I was kind of disappointed in myself. I had thought of myself as a more honest guy than someone who would lie about this huge aspect of their life like that. I never thought I would be someone who had to try to alter other people's perceptions of me. And I also never thought that being a 'ladies man' was part of that reputation I had created.

Also, Dwight treating the experience so casually had hurt my feelings as well and that baffled me to no end. In fact, that was what was troubling me the _most_ and I wasn't sure why. Dwight was the one who wanted to confront the situation so badly, treating it with such haste and importance, but before he had spoke of it with the flippancy of exchanging blueberry muffin recipes. When he had said the previous night that it wasn't really us that had caused that to happen, it seemed like he was saying that it was something he would never do under normal circumstances... and I almost felt disappointed. Like I _had_ wanted it.

Okay... to be honest, I wasn't sure _what_ I wanted to do, but it would have been nice if something like that would have been of our own volition, knowing that was where the both of us actually _wanted_ to be. The more I looked back on the whole thing, the more it infuriated me... that we had been put into that situation, forced to be puppets in some pathetic teenager's mental porno show.

I had thought back to what happened that day. Dwight and I had gone to the coffee shop on his lunch break, and we were debating on what the best way was to remodel my bedroom on the boat. I was thinking of adding a support beam in the middle of the room that could also be used as small cabinets or maybe a bookshelf, but he was trying to convince me that it was a foolish plan. I had given him all the 'what if' scenarios I had thought of and what solutions I had planned if they occurred. I had also shown him sketches of how I thought I could pull the whole thing off, but he pointed out all the flaws in the design like it was the Death Star. Yet, he also told me that he had _his_ plan all ready and he would meet me, bright and early, at my place that weekend. I thought it was funny, considering I hadn't actually _asked_ for any help with the physical labor, just the planning. But that was Dwight! If you needed it, he was always there with a helping hand.

I was going over the tight budget I had set for the project when the girl behind the counter sighed loudly and rolled her eyes, indicating she would _finally_ like to get an order out of us. Dwight heard me ask for a dozen glazed doughnut holes and made scolding noises, lecturing me on having so much sugar in the middle of the day. She handed him our change and said, "God, you guys fight like an old married couple. Why don't the two of you just screw each other's brains out already and get it over with? Oh yeah, come again and... have a nice day."

I thought she was just being the typical rude coffee shop employee, which she _was_ , but she was a _lot_ more malicious than I thought. This girl's trouble was suggestion. Anytime she started a question with 'Why don't you...', the person would actually _do_ whatever it was that she finished the sentence with. If she said 'Why don't you go jump off of a bridge?', they would go and jump! It was a dangerous trouble to have and we had found out early the next morning that the girl actually _was_ aware of her abilities prior to our little... excursion. Dwight had questioned her and put two and two together, finding out all the details about her trouble. And how she always knew how they concluded, even _without_ her presence.

That was it, though. She had told us to go have sex and... we _listened_. All night long... we _listened_. Due to her phrasing, we were lucky our brains were still in tact. But now, no matter what I did, how many times I pinched myself, wishing it was a dream, I _had_ to face what had happened. And I guess I was going to have to face it that night at eight o'clock.

When the hour came, he showed up on time, as usual. I don't think I had ever seen Dwight late for anything. There were awkward greetings as I led him below deck to the kitchen and grabbed some beers for the both of us, sitting across from him at the table. He was just as nervous about talking this out as I was, and I could tell. It was radiating off of him in waves, each one crashing into the nervous energy that I _knew_ had to be coming from me too. However, it wasn't going to stop until we bit the bullet, no pun intended, and actually talked about the situation. Although, I think we both needed a little more 'liquid courage' before that was going to happen.

We sat silently, just drinking for a while, before a word had ever been spoken. Dwight took a big, long swig out of his bottle and slammed it down harder on the table than I think he had intended, before he looked up at me and said, "Look, Duke... whatever I did, it wasn't me. You have to understand that. I don't know what you're feeling exactly, but I know you're upset about it. I just wish I knew what it was, so I could help. So we could move past this."

"It's... just... it's nothing, Dwight, okay? Everything between us is alright, I promise." I replied, "It's just hard, coming to terms with it all. You know, that she could actually _see_ everything happen that she had suggested, that it came to her in her dreams later that night. The fact that you and I acted as some girl's supernatural spank bank for the evening...? Don't get me wrong. We are two _very_ attractive gentlemen. But I kind of feel..."

"Used?" he offered, and I gave a small nod in reply, "Yeah, I'm not feeling too great about that either. But, listen... you know, that if that _had_ been me... _really_ me... I would never do anything like that to you, Duke. I'm not exactly the kind of guy who runs out and has flings for the hell of it. I tried it out in high school, but... it just wasn't my style. As lame as it sounds, if I'm getting that intimate with someone, it's usually because I really care about them."

"Well, despite whatever you think you know about me, Squatch, that's usually my philosophy too. So I guess we're both lame." I said, grabbing my bottle, tipping it toward his and clinking them together, before drinking down the little amount I had left.

He laughed, "I guess we are. But... I just wanted you to know that. That if anything would have _really_ happened between us, that's not how it would have went down. I don't want you to have that impression of me; that's not the kind of man I am."

"I know that, Dwight. You're a good guy. You've proven that to me more than enough." I said. I was getting some mixed signals from what he was saying, though. Did he actually want to try to pursue this the _right_ way? Or was he just trying to clear up his reputation and some guilty feelings he had left over? Before my brain processed all these newfound questions I had, I caught myself asking, curiously, "So... if you were interested, how _would_ you treat me?"

I got up to grab us a couple more beers, but then chose to sit next to him on the bench seat. His blush grew and he chuckled softly, "Seriously?"

"Hey, you brought it up! So, how would you woo me, Romeo?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows and smiling coyly, as I popped open and sipped my new beer.

"Well, first of all... we probably would have hiked up to that one overlook right off of the hiking trail. I remember that you mentioned that you liked that spot when you go camping. We would have built a fire, ate dinner... maybe watched the stars come out with a finely aged bottle of scotch. Something simple, but... you know, pretty unforgettable."

"Really? All of that for little ole' me?" I asked, and he nodded. "Damn, that doesn't sound half bad. It's nice when there's real thought put into a date, not just flashing money around, you know? It makes a girl feel special."

He laughed, leaning closer. His hand that was on the back of the bench fell to rest at the small of my back, trailing up underneath my shirt. "Well, I'm glad. But trust me, that would be just the start of it. You probably would have got one or two more creative outings like that before we ended up where we did." he said.

"Really? That many, huh?" I asked, as my hand found his knee. "You tease."

"Well, what do you think I am, huh?" he joked in mock offense, as he pulled the neck of his shirt up, like I had been trying to peek down it. "Some tramp? A hussy? That I give it away to every cute guy that I come across? Is that it?"

I couldn't help laughing, which earned a big smile from him. He put his hand on top of mine, much like he had been trying to do the night before, but when his skin touched mine, it was like a surge of electricity had engulfed the room. This energy was beyond intense; I couldn't describe the feeling. My eyes shot to his, already looking into mine, and I could tell he could feel it too. So why wasn't it scaring _him_ like this? He was staring at me, stone-faced. It had to be his military background and being on the force now. Guys like that were trained to remain calm in high pressured situations, but I could feel my heart pounding a thousand beats per minute. It was becoming hard to catch my breath, hard pants escaping my lips, but he seemed to be at ease.

Maybe I had been reading that wrong though, because I heard him let out a deep, shaky breath. He seemed like he didn't even know he was holding it in. My free hand raked through my hair, as I looked down to his lips and back up to his eyes, the silent question hanging thick in the air. Suddenly, it was like we were magnetized; a force drawing us closer and closer to each other. It felt like I couldn't stop it; I wasn't sure I wanted to. I could feel his fingertips trailing up my forearm, the hairs standing on end as he gripped my bicep.

We were so close I could feel his lips faintly brushing over mine, as he asked, "Are you sure?"

I smiled. Always the boy scout. My fingers crawled across the gap between us and gripped onto the fabric of his shirt, desperately... clinging to whatever I could to pull him toward me and crashed his lips to mine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Warning: Some homophobia displayed in this chapter. I just wanted you all to know, these are not my personal feelings. I hope you enjoy!

A/N- Warning: Some homophobia displayed in this chapter. I just wanted you all to know, these are not my personal feelings. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

His lips were as soft and welcoming as before. I was hesitant at first, but I also didn't think that I should let what happened before ruin how special these moments could be. I gave in, melting into his touch, and the ease of going back into it all seemed almost effortless. We already had this familiarity with each other that, without a doubt, made this the least awkward first kiss ever. Although, some would debate if you actually could consider it the first, _I_ did, because this wasn't the result of some trouble. I knew troubles. No, this was the first time we kissed and had both had actually wanted it... at least, I hoped.

His hand cupped my jaw as he deepened the kiss, but the second my tongue peeked out to take it further, he pulled away. He was pinned between me and the wall, so luckily, he couldn't jump back from me like Audrey had in Colorado. When that happened, she had looked at me like I was the worst mistake she'd ever made, and although I agreed that it _was_ a mistake, I couldn't deny that look had damaged my ego a bit. However, when I looked at Dwight, the expression on his face was a look of anticipation, voracity, confusion... I wasn't sensing any regret though, which already had me hopeful.

"What's going on in that big brain of yours, Sasquatch?" I asked, looking deep into his eyes. He was trying to focus his gaze back to me, but I'd seen that look way too many times. He was searching his brain for the right words to tell me something he didn't want to, so I urged, "Just say it."

"I _do_ want this..." he started, sighing with frustration before continuing, "For now. But what happens down the road if we realize all of this, all of our feelings were just remnants left behind from her trouble?"

I smiled, and put my hand on his cheek, "Then we take this slow. Besides, you promised me a few dates first, didn't you?"

He seemed eased by my answer and kissed me, but I soon felt something going off in his pocket, and it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. It was his cellphone, which unfortunately _always_ had to be on as the Chief of Police. Man, I wish Nathan had kept that job.

When the day came and Audrey had gone into the barn, the building vanished... but she was still here. Vince and Dave, the whole Guard was on it, but no one had come up with any answers as to why that had happened. We had done everything exactly how we were supposed to, at least we had thought so. It's not like there was an instruction manual on this sort of thing. But, everyone had seen it! The barn came, so Audrey _should_ have left along with the troubles when it disappeared; this was how this whole thing was supposed to work. But when that _didn't_ happen, that's when Nathan had decided to put Dwight in charge of the force and focus his energies on Audrey, the troubles, the barn... everything.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty close, actually. I'll pick him up. See you soon." Dwight said as he hung up. He turned to me and said, "We gotta go. Get your coat."

When we had arrived at The Gull, Nathan and Audrey were outside speaking with a deputy. There was another man that the other officers had detained on the porch for questioning, but I knew who he was right away... Wade. He was my half-brother, and we had never really been that close. I was slightly infuriated, and not just because he had interrupted the good time I was having, but because I knew that his presence _never_ involved anything good. It was usually him asking for a favor of some kind, and that favor usually involved money.

Dwight and I got out of his truck and walked over to them. I couldn't help but notice that they both looked as annoyed as I was, and I was guessing that was because they were probably having an even better time than we were. And, hey... good for Nathan! Maybe now that he could actually feel it, he wouldn't be so uptight all the time.

Nathan looked between the two of us, suspiciously, before he said, "You got here fast. Just how close _were_ you to The Rouge there, Chief?"

Damn. I knew Nathan was curious, but I think he had found out more about what happened that day than he was telling me, which I was _not_ happy about. Him knowing meant that others could know and I didn't feel like even more whispering behind my back when I walked down the street. Then again, I guess we could call ourselves friends, so... would Nathan tell people? And if he _did_ know, it didn't mean Nathan knew anything about what happened the few hours before this, our talk or otherwise, and I wanted to keep it that way. Not exactly being out in the open with my sexual preferences played a big part in that, but I also just wanted to have time to explore what this was with Dwight first.

It was new. Not even a couple of hours old, new. So I didn't want people trying to define what we had before _I_ even knew what it was. I just hoped that he understood that, because it wasn't exactly like we had gotten time to talk about stuff like this before we left.

"Do we have an I.D. on the guy yet? Has he told us anything?" Dwight asked, completely ignoring Nathan's question.

Nathan was about to answer when I interrupted, "His name is Wade Crocker. He's my brother." I said, turning toward Dwight to tell him, "Don't worry. I'll figure out what's going on. Your guys can go home."

"You sure? Is everything okay?" Dwight asked.

"That's what I'm going to find out." I said, with a weak smile. I put my hand on his shoulder as a sign of reassurance, trying to indicate that he should trust me.

He nodded and asked, "The two of you need a lift back to your place?"

Nathan smiled, deviously, before he replied, "I can swing them by the boat, Dwight. I need to be heading off soon anyway."

When I looked at him, he exuded the excitement of the kid next in line to ride the rollercoaster. He almost seemed giddy... And that was _never_ good a thing.

Dwight turned to me before leaving and said, "Well then, call me tomorrow and we'll set that up for this weekend."

I tried to fight the blush in my cheeks, as I smiled and replied, "Sounds good, Chief. I will."

After talking to Wade, I found out that he had been having suspicions that his wife was cheating on him while he was at work, so he had set up hidden cameras around the house. It didn't take him very long to get evidence that he was right, that she _was_ sleeping with other men. He hadn't known what to do, but he definitely knew he was going to leave and divorce her. Wade said he was going to call and ask first if he could stay and maybe do some odd jobs around the place until he found a place back in New York, but when he tried to look my up a address or phone number, The Gull was all he found. I agreed to let him stay, but I didn't exactly _enjoy_ the idea of having a roommate, especially while I had whatever the hell it was starting with Dwight. And I _especially_ didn't like having someone in Haven who didn't know about the troubles.

It's not like I exactly _knew_ how to help Wade with his situation either. I wasn't a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer, but then again, I didn't think that was what he specifically came to me for either. My guess is that he was probably looking for something more along the lines of strip clubs and copious amounts of alcohol, but that was something that would be discussed later.

We got in Nathan's car and began the short journey back to my place. Nathan had began asking my brother a few questions, more common pleasantries than anything - what he did for a living, if he had any kids... the usual. But after that, it didn't take long for him to start interrogating me.

"So, what were you doing before Dwight called you?" Nathan asked, "It's pretty late, so... you know, just wondering."

"Oh, you know... a little herbal relaxation before bed." I replied, and when Nathan shot me a death glare, I added, "I meant having some tea. Why? What did you think?"

"Hmm, really? Because I thought, since what happened between you and the Chief the other day, and the fact that both of you reek of beer... that maybe you guys were, you know..."

"Hey!" Wade yelled, leaning forward from the back seat, "What do you mean 'what happened between them'? What's he talking about, Duke?"

"Nothing, man. He's just kidding around. That's all. Right, Nathan?" I suggested, hoping Nate had picked up on the cues I was sending.

I knew Wade wasn't buying it, completely ignoring me, as he asked Nathan, "No. I want to know what you were talking about! What were him and this guy doing together, huh? Are you saying my brother is fuckin' gay?"

"No... no! Hey, I was just joking, man." Nathan said. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Yeah, you better not have. Because my brother isn't some little queer, okay pal? Now, I think you need to apologize." he replied.

"Wade, listen..." I started.

"No! He needs to say he's fucking sorry!" Wade screamed.

Nathan, obviously frightened, shouted in response, "I'm sorry, man! Okay!?! I'm sorry!"

"Bro, everything is alright! He was just..."

But before I could finish my sentence, Wade had grabbed Nathan's collar from behind and began choking him. His movements were almost too fast to see when he did it, but he was pulling at the material, twisting it tighter and tighter, and Nathan's face was getting redder and redder. I tried to swing out and hit Wade's arms, his face, _anything_ to get him off of Nathan, but he held on. He stared back up at me with this blank stare... a cold, sadistic look in his eyes that shook me down to the bones. I _had_ to stop this.

"Let him go, Wade! We're going to crash!" I yelled.

I was going for a punch to his face, but Wade knocked my arm away and I hit Nathan in the mouth instead. The car swerved, almost veering off the road, but that wasn't the biggest problem. Nathan's lip had been split open when I hit him and a little of his blood had flown onto my knuckles. I watched as it absorbed into my skin and I felt my eyes go silver. The power was taking over me, and all it was telling me to do was to hurt him. Hurt everyone.

"Pull over!" I screamed, looking at Wade dead in the eyes to make sure that he saw what was happening. He was so terrified that he dropped Nathan's shirt, hands shaking as he placed them on the seat. Nathan lunged forward, gasping toward his way to normal breathing again, as he pulled the car to the side of the road.

I ran out of the vehicle to a space where there was nothing around me. Wade had tried to walk over, to see if I was okay I hoped, but I knew that it was most likely to start with the questions. Nathan stopped him and let me try to calm myself down, but as I waited for them to fade, nothing was happening. It wasn't going away. I _knew_ I had to release this energy somehow though, so I walked over and slammed the heel of my palm into a tree. I turned to Wade and watched his eyes light up with fascination as the tree split right down the middle and fell to the ground. It was then I could feel it fading, my eyes returning to normal. Nathan noticed it too and let Wade go, but he looked apprehensive to approach me. Hell, I would be too, if I was him.

"What the fuck was that, Duke? What _are_ you?" he asked, in an awed whisper.

"Wade, listen..." I started, and tried to walk toward him, but he backed up with every step. I knew it then; he had seen way too much for me not to be honest with him anymore. I had to tell him about the troubles, the family curse... _everything_. "Wade, there is a _lot_ of things that I need to tell you about our father. You're not going to want to believe them, but based on what you've just seen, I hope that you will. I just need you to know that I'm _still_ your brother, okay? I'm not going to hurt you; you're safe. Now, please... I have had a _really_ long day, so if we could head back to The Rouge now, so that I could get some sleep, that would be great. And then, we can have that long, _long_ talk tomorrow. Sound good?"

Wade still seemed in shock over the whole thing but somehow nodded in agreement. Nathan and I slowly moved, like navigating around a feral animal, trying not to scare him, as we all got back into the car. He didn't say anything on the ride back or when we got dropped off, he just went inside and asked where he'd be sleeping. His eyes had that same emptiness I had noticed before as I handed him some fresh sheets and a pillow. I watched as he had made the bed I showed him to, and then sat down with the same blank expression on his face. Maybe I _should_ explain it now. It seemed like he needed some more information about it all to be able to piece it together. And maybe I could at least give him some answers to hold him over until tomorrow.

But as I went to go sit next to him, he put his arm in the way, stopping me in my place. I stood back up and said, "Wade, I just want to talk..."

He turned his head to me, in almost mechanical movements, and replied, "And you said we'd talk about it in the morning. Now, go get some sleep, Duke. Good night."

"Alright." I replied, uneasily, "Good night. Let me know if you need anything."

I didn't feel right about leaving him there, but I went back to my room to lay down. It took me a while to get to sleep, but I eventually drifted off, exhaustion taking over. I was apprehensive about how Wade was taking everything. I just couldn't seem to get any read of emotion from him whatsoever. If he was happy, sad, scared, excited, terrified... I had no idea. I just knew he was _not_ handling it very well.

And I was right.


	4. Chapter 4

I awoke to find Wade standing over me, moonlight bouncing off of what seemed to be a baseball bat as he swung it at my head. I couldn't tell for sure, because my eyes wouldn't adjust, blurry after being woken so abruptly. Whatever it was narrowly missed me as I rolled to the floor, the weapon smacking against the pillow instead. I grabbed his ankle and yanked on it as hard as I could, sending him flying back into a dresser, then to the ground. Everything I had on top went flying to the ground and smashed, broken shards of glass and clay all over the room. He now had big cuts all over his shins, his forearms, and his palms as he tried to rise up from the ground. I heard metal clanging against the floor and got to my feet quickly, as I snatched up what was, in fact, a bat and hit him as hard as I could in the left foot with it. I hit him again in the right knee, to ensure he wouldn't get up, as he yelled out in agony, writhing in pain. I searched desperately for a specific item in my night stand. Luckily, I found what I was looking for quickly and I slapped them on his wrists, handcuffing him to the bed post.

"Never thought a kink might save my life." I said with a smirk, before kneeling down and saying to Wade, "And good morning to you too!"

I grabbed my phone and almost found myself calling Dwight, but it was too early in this potential relationship to be bugging him with family issues. Also, I was pretty sure that a good portion of this problem was due to Nathan's comments from the night before, so _he_ should be the person to help me clean up this mess. Good thing he was on speed dial.

Unfortunately, it turned out that Nathan couldn't really do anything to assist with the situation. I didn't want to press charges, but we needed somewhere to hold Wade until we could get him back out of town. We had a lot worse things to deal with out there than my asshole brother, unfortunately, so the only option was police surveillance at the hospital. He would have been detained for the required seventy-two hours anyway, so it seemed the safest option. It wasn't like he'd get far with a broken foot and a dislocated knee cap either. Also, it gave us just enough time to find him a ticket to _anywhere_ but here.

Nathan stayed with me at the hospital for a while. He made it seem like it was for business, but I could tell by how he was acting, he was there because he was worried about me. He'd never admit it, but I noticed all of those little things he did and I appreciated them. I had almost wanted him to stay, but he had to go back to the station to start filling out the paperwork.

I wanted to head home too, but somehow, I just couldn't get myself to rise up out of that chair in the waiting room. I saw those two huge officers standing outside of Wade's doorway, the huge guns on their sides, and couldn't help but think that all of this was my fault somehow. If I had just been sincere with him... about our family, our curse... who I _really_ was, my sexuality... maybe none of this would have happened.

I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder and I was almost expecting a punch to follow. From who, I wasn't sure, but that just seemed to be my luck in the past. But when a steaming cup of coffee appeared in front of me instead, I knew exactly who it was. Dwight.

I put my hand on top of his, as said, "Damn that Nathan. He could never keep a secret."

"You could have called me, you know." he said, "I could have helped. You didn't have to hide this from me."

"I know. That wasn't my intention." I replied, "But you shouldn't always have to fix everything, Dwight."

"Well, neither should you." He said, as he sat across from me. I couldn't help but picture us from the night before, sitting across from eachother at my kitchen table, inebriation letting inhibitions fall away.

I smirked at the thought. Other than Dwight, there haven't been many happy memories lately. My brother tried to kill me, and I'm still not sure if that's because I like men or because I'm a freak. And all the troubles... shit, I just seemed to be making everything worse.

"I don't think I've been fixing much lately." I replied.

Dwight got a serious expression quickly, as he looked into my eyes and said, "You think no one sees it all, Duke, but I do. You share the same burden as me in this town, and that is that everyone runs to you when they need help. And that is because you will do _everything_ you can to make sure you come through. But the problem is... even after _everything_ , all the amazing things you do for them, those things that make you one of the most selfless people I know... none of them _really_ see it all. They don't understand how much you are laying down on the line _all_ the time. The internal struggle you go through every single second. If you didn't have the exceptional heart that you do, we wouldn't have gotten half this far. _You_ are one of the most pivotal players in the game, Duke. Hopefully, one day, they will see that."

"Hopefully." I replied, tears brimming my eyes.

I tried to hold them back, hating to cry in front of him, but his words had touched me deeper than anyone's ever had before. It was almost foreign hearing such amazing things said about me. Everyone's conversations with me usually consisted of sarcasm or a joke, normally they wouldn't even bother themselves to wait for my response. I wasn't going to lie, I had been feeling very underappreciated as of late, and how blind they were to my role in all of this. Sometimes, I had thought about packing it all up and sailing off into the sunset, leaving Haven and everyone else behind. But now that I knew what I was doing had actually been noticed and appreciated... it made a huge difference.

He put his hand on my knee, comfortingly, and asked, "So, what happened with your brother?"

"Well, there isn't a lot my family knows about me." I said, "So, when a fight broke out in Nathan's car last night, and some of his blood got on me..."

"Let me guess, you went all Super-Duke and scared Wade shitless?" He asked, and I nodded, before he added, "Wait, why were you guys fighting?"

"Like I said, there's not much that my family knows about me, the _real_ me." I replied, and he had figured it out instantly. Dwight remembered Nathan's inquiries from the night before and figured that he had most likely started asking me about the Chief and I later on. Wade overheard, and since he hadn't noticed any female officers, it didn't take much for him to put it together.

And I hated how quickly Dwight could put things together too, sometimes. He looked forlorn as he struggled to say it, "So... this is because of me, then."

"No. This isn't your fault. And it's not Nathan's fault either. The only person to blame for all of this is _me,_ because I should have been straightforward with everyone... about everything. It shouldn't have mattered what anyone thought about me, or how my family felt about it. I like guys too. If I would have just admitted that to myself all those years ago, maybe things with Nate..." I rambled, cutting off my words when I had said too much. "But I can't let this ruin anything I could potentially have with you either. I really want to see where this takes us."

"I do too. But, hold on... did you say... you and Nathan?" He asked, in shock at the idea of it.

"Why do you think he's hated me for so long?" I replied, with a sly smile, "I gave up my grudge against him a while ago, but it took a long time. Longer for him, obviously, which I never understood."

"When did all of this happen?"

"When we were pretty young. Twelve? Maybe thirteen? I don't know... whenever it was, we were close then... _really_ close. I was the one who taught him everything - how to tie knots, fish, use a crossbow, all of that stuff. But I also taught him how to kiss, give a hickey..." I said, remembering with a fond smile at the jumbling hands, too much teeth, and the big drying stain of drool on my collar. "Everything was great, until my mom came around again. She had sobered up, probably just for the week, but she was trying to play the role of 'loving parent' again. She went to pick me up from school one day, but I had already left. Nathan and I went down to the beach, and we were running around, barefoot in the sand... pushing eachother around, throwing each other in the water, just having a good time. If it wasn't for the bloody footprints behind us, probably neither one of us would have noticed, but Nathan had cut his foot almost to the bone on a rock or a seashell or something. I sat him down on a log, tore off my shirt, and wrapped it around his foot to stop the bleeding. But I was freaking out, upset I hadn't noticed sooner, scared that our parents would think it was my fault somehow. He noticed it was upsetting me pretty badly, leaned down and he kissed me... right as my mom found us."

"Oh god. Duke..."

"She was silent the whole ride home. She was _always_ screaming, so her that quiet for that long was really terrifying me. I mean, I was shaking, I was so scared. I knew that she was going to hurt me, but... fuck, I had _never_ gotten a beating that bad before. She had broke my nose and three of my ribs, which fractured inward so they punctured a lung. I spent a month in the hospital, then even longer in recovery. When I got out, I thought things would go right back to normal, you know? The way they were before. But, unfortunately, I found out two things pretty quickly. One was that I had missed the cut-off for baseball tryouts, and... number two was that Nathan was dating some new girl in our class, Becka... or Beth maybe? I don't remember, but..."

"He broke your heart." he said, simply, and I nodded.

"Well, I don't know if I would go _that_ far. I mean, we were really young; I don't know what the hell I was expecting, but... Yeah, it hurt. Especially when he came up to me later that day to _thank_ me; he said his new girlfriend had complimented how great at kissing he was. So, that's when I said, 'Well, _I_ could have told you that'. His reply was that what we did before didn't count. That was just practice; boys weren't supposed to kiss boys."

"Ouch."

"Needless to say, I was kind of an asshole to him after that. But I think he always knew the reason why I was doing it." I said, "You know, I never thought about it until now... Why was _he_ so upset with me all that time? Did the Chief find out? What happened to Nathan after we got caught? Maybe that wasn't what he'd wanted to do or how he really felt back then. He might have just been scared about what everyone would think. Or maybe he was afraid that someone would do the same thing to him."

"Well, I think we both know that Nathan isn't really that narrowminded anymore." he said.

I looked up at him through uncertain eyes, "And... I am?"

His eyes widened at the realization of his mistake, "No, Duke. Of course not." he said, "I just meant that whatever you were feeling then... it doesn't matter. You both aren't those scared little kids anymore, and I don't think that the you two would be as good of friends as you are now if you both hadn't somehow come to that understanding. Listen... you know _now_ that following your heart is more important than anyone else's opinion, and that's all that matters."

"I won't lie. I'm not sure that I am one-hundred percent there yet..." I said. I knew it wasn't exactly the context he had said it, but I felt I needed to tell him. I reached across and grabbed his hand, making sure he was looking in my eyes as I continued, "But, because of you, I'm trying to be."

He smiled and pulled me up from my chair, throwing his arm around my shoulder. He smiled and said, "Come on. I'll give you a ride."

"Actually, there's still all the... broken glass and blood on my floor." I replied, slightly nervous about having to ask, "Umm, Squatch? Do you think I can stay with you tonight?"

I think something about my desperate and vulnerable gaze melted his heart, and he nodded. I wrapped my arm around his waist, sad that his damn vest was getting in the way of his smooth skin. He held me closer and pulled my head into the crook of his neck, as we walked slowly out of the exit doors and he said, "Sure. Let's go home."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me awhile, but I'm back! And we finally get a glimpse of what happened between our two pretty protagonists that night. I hope it doesn't disappoint!  
> Thanks! Please comment, I'd love any criticism.

When we had gotten to his place, I had expected to sleep on the couch and since we had gotten so comfortable on it, very little of me would be complaining if I did. We sat there and ate some Chinese take-out, watched some old MMA fights on television, even placing bets on fighters with egg roll currency... but when the time came, and I noticed a blanket on the chair in the corner, I thought my place for the night had been set.

However, Dwight stood up and paused after a few steps when he hadn't heard me follow. He looked back at me, confused, holding his hand out for me to grab, as he asked, "You coming?"

"What happened to dating first?" I joked.

He laughed, wryly, in response. "Very funny. Now come on. I'm exhausted. I'm sure you gotta be too."

Man, this was _so_ much better than the couch. His bed had to be the most comfortable mattress I'd ever laid on in my entire life. It was like sinking into a cloud with a marshmallow pillow, but even with all that, a sense of unease had taken over me.

I wanted to blame it on where I was, the nervousness, the possibilities of what could happen if I were in a better mindset, but I knew that wasn't true. It was simply because tonight had been a horrible night. I had to hurt my brother. Wade may never walk without a limp again and that was all my fault. I couldn't have him at my place anymore and I had nowhere to send him off to because his wife was having an affair. Not that he wanted to be at my house anymore. And I didn't exactly want him there either. This was heartbreaking to me. He was the last connection I had to my family, and that had just dissolved away.

The worst thing was... that I was pretty positive that this _wasn't_ because our family was cursed. Okay, I'm sure that had something to do with it. But all this had happened because Wade heard Nathan asking about Dwight and I, and without confirmation, was willing to kill me for it.

We were taught our whole childhoods how to be _'men'_. We don't play with dolls; we use tools. We don't cook for ourselves, but we always have full bellies. We don't clean for ourselves, but our houses are pristine. We don't show emotion and we _certainly_ don't cry.

My dad had told me some stories of horrifying things he had done to some of his classmates in high school when he had found out they were homosexual. One story in particular chilled me to my bones, sticking with me all the way down to my soul; I would _never_ forget it.

My dad had stumbled upon two teenage boys, around sixteen he had guessed, having sex with eachother in a secret hideaway spot in the woods they'd found. He called them an 'abomination'. My father said, and these were his direct words, "they don't enjoy the gift of having a penis, if that's where they're gonna stick it", so he decided to _'scare'_ them both. He pulled out his knife and ran toward them, stripping them the rest of the way and tying them to a tree. He carved the word 'FAG' into their chests and, if that wasn't bad enough, he decided to mutilate both of the boys' genitals. And to put the icing on the cake, he had finished his story with, "I shoulda killed 'em like all the others."

My father had never gotten caught, but he had already known he wouldn't be. He knew the boys would be _way_ too scared to tell anyone, especially the police. I always had been tempted to tell Nathan's dad, but I knew that if I had, he probably wouldn't have believed me. Us Crocker boys were no-good liars, after all.

I didn't even notice that I was crying until a sob cracked its way through and shook the bed. I desperately tried to get the oxygen to my lungs before another loud sob came, but couldn't get a breath in.

I felt Dwight's hand starting on the small of my back, rubbing soft circles up and down my spine, as I tried to get the tears to slow. I struggled each time my body shook in sorrow, feeling that sense of shame that had been drilled into me since birth. Because I was crying in front of another man... I was crying 'like a girl'.

He pulled on my shoulder, rolling me over into his embrace. My face buried into the crook of his neck immediately, fitting almost perfectly when I did. That little nagging voice in the back of my head told me to pull away, but I knew this felt too right to deny. I instantly felt safe, secure there. And if I was going to fall apart, I knew Dwight would fix it. He could put me back together.

"It's okay." He kept reassuring, "Everything is going to be alright."

"I wish I knew that was true." I replied.

"So, tell me... what's got you so worried?" he asked, as his fingers found the small hairs at the nape of my neck and began playing with them mindlessly.

I sighed, and shook my head against him. "Other than the obvious?" I asked, sarcastically. I then put my head back onto the pillow to look into his eyes as I tried to sell the semi-lie, "I just don't know what's going to happen with Wade. When he gets out. How do I get him to leave Haven when I have nowhere else to take him."

"You know I can find a way to help you there." he scoffed, "That's not what has you crying in the middle of the night. So what is it?"

I tried to tell him, but when I opened my mouth, my voice cracked and the tears started again. He pushed some hair away from my face, before brushing a few tears away. I somehow knew that he would wait as long as I needed to get the words out, and he wouldn't be judgmental of whatever I had to sat, but that somehow frightened me. I wasn't used to being able to be so open with someone without some kind of negative feedback - a scoff, a scowl, something that let me know they disapproved or simply didn't care. But with Dwight, I had the opposite - a kind, compassionate human being, who I genuinely believed when he said he gave a damn and he'd always be there - and I was thrown for a loop.

It took me a while to find the words, but when I did, it seemed as though the dam had broken and I couldn't stop them from flooding the space on the bed between us, as I confessed, "I guess I don't want to have to admit it to myself yet... that _this_ is who I am. And no matter what I feel, I'm scared I'll always have doubts because of how I was raised. Hell, how a _lot_ of us were raised back then! It's just how we were taught to think. And what trips me out the most is that I absolutely hated my parents. Now, they're dead, yet I still care about how they would feel about it all if they weren't. I know they would disown me, maybe worse, if they found out I liked guys. And that thought makes me want to hide it even though they literally _can't_ find out. But a part of me doesn't want to accept that, that there will never be any repercussions. However, now Wade is the only family I have left and... he knows! And he did exactly like I thought my parents would do... he tried to kill me. Because that's what my family does - they kill the troubled, and they kill fags. So, I guess that's it, you know? The last tie I had is gone for good. Although my family and I were never close, it was somewhat comforting knowing I had _someone_ I could turn to if things got really rough. But now, my safety net is gone and... here I am. I'm walking the tightrope and I'm wobbling and... I just... _God_ , I..."

I collapsed into sobs again, but he grabbed my shoulder and tilted my chin up to meet his gaze. "See, that's where you're wrong. You _have_ a safety net, Duke, because you have Audrey, and you have Nathan... Vince, Dave, Gloria... and most importantly, you have _me_. We might not be your blood, but we _are_ your family. We'll always be here for you. At least, I know _I_ will."

I don't know what came over me in that moment, but I leaned in and kissed him. It was strange from my part, because it seemed like there was a desperation to it, but it also seemed like I was just testing the waters. I wasn't used to feeling so insecure... for everything I had just told him, but also because, deep down, I knew he wasn't ready for all of this.

However, he didn't seem like he wasn't ready, as he kissed back with a ferocity that almost rolled me onto my back. His fingers tangled in my hair as his tongue tangled with mine, a small moan escaping as I bit his lip, gently. We parted, and his forehead rested against mine, panting as we both exchanged questioning glances.

He answered for me as he grabbed my jaw, that elbow pushing me back down to the bed, and kissed me again, followed by a few small pecks that travelled up the other side of my jaw and down my neck. His teeth had barely grazed against my skin before his tongue was lapping to soothe it. Then he started again, harder each time, now sucking at the flesh so hard that I knew it'd be damn near black the next day and I'd have a hell of a time trying to hide it.

There were sounds escaping my mouth that I honestly didn't even know I could make, and I was aching for him to go further. I didn't care what just _more_ , but he decided to kiss back up to my lips and take his time there now. Yet each kiss was losing heat, dulling down to simple pecks, before he said, "Now, we'll figure everything else out tomorrow. Just, get some damn sleep, okay?"

I chuckled, softly, "Okay."

When I finally eased myself enough to sleep, I dreamt of that night. The way his lips felt, kissing down my spine as his finger slid gently inside me. It was soon followed by a second, which curled up just perfectly to find my prostate. I had bucked my hips into the bed, my hot, hard cock uncomfortably crushed against the cool sheets. But I wasn't focusing on that. I was focusing on his tongue that was replacing his fingers as he pulled me to my knees, spreading my legs further, and the fast little flicks he did that made it almost too much to bear. I was gripping the sheets with a white-knuckled force, as I threw my head back, screaming in ecstasy. Realizing how close I was, I began begging him to stop. After all, we had barely made it out of the gate yet.

"Please, _please!_ Stop!" I yelled, smacking against what I assumed was his shoulder. I couldn't focus enough to know, but it was probably the only body part of his I could reach in our current positions. I was panting, barely able to form a sentence, as I continued, "I... don't want... to come yet. Don't want this... over yet. Please."

And he stopped. But when I looked back at him, he had a devilish grin on his face, as he said, "You're assuming that you'll only come once tonight?"

That right there was almost enough to do it, and I couldn't believe the reactions he was getting from me. No one had ever made me feel like this before. I mean, don't get me wrong, sex with women was great, but it never had me completely consumed by pleasure like this. I knew I had _them_ feeling like this, but I thought that was normal. That girls got more pleasure. And with men... well, I'd never really taken _time_ with a guy before. Hell, I could only think of _one time_ I'd ever been fully naked in front of another man before in this kind of situation and that was so long ago, I could barely remember it. Usually, it was in a bathroom or the backseat of a car, zippers undone and our pants down just enough for a few minutes of quick, hard fucking before we cleaned up and I made the long drive back to Haven.

Fucking. There was no other word for it, really. Most of the time, names weren't even exchanged, so it definitely couldn't be considered 'love making'. Now, I wasn't sure if that's what you'd call what Dwight and I were about to be doing, but it was as close to it as I'd ever gotten. He was so gentle, caring, attentive... yet so forceful, dominating. And the way he reacted just from the pleasure he was giving me was amazing. He'd hear the smallest gasp or moan coming from my lips and his fingers would clench harder into my hips and he'd be moaning along with me. And when he did, the vibrations of it against my skin... _God,_ I couldn't describe it.

The speed of his tongue increased, pressing harder and then not, almost like a pulse. I yelled out at a tone so high it was almost embarrassing as I succumbed to it all, knees wobbly and weakening as I came all over the sheets.

Next thing I knew, my eyes were cracking open to a very unfamiliar surrounding. I had almost forgotten I was at Dwight's house, but when I realized, I couldn't help the smile that came across my face. I stretched out against the mattress, yawning, a small sound of satisfaction at the feeling of various bones cracking and popping as I did. I almost felt guilty, feeling this happy after what happened with Wade last night, but this was the best I had felt in awhile.

I found a small note on the night stand beside me, which read, _"Duke - I didn't want to wake you. It seemed like you were having a good dream. ;) There's coffee in the pot that should still be warm. Stay as long as you want, but lock the door when you leave, of course. And I was thinking maybe we can meet up around 3 and we'll do that hike later...? Text me. - Dwight."_

It took me only a second to grab my phone and reply, _"I'll see you then. I'll bring the food and booze."_

It didn't take him very long to respond. I was hoping it was because he was as excited to hear from me as I was him. _"Lol. So what do I bring? That doesn't seem fair."_

_"Well, it's kind of a thankyou for everything. All you need to bring is that gorgeous smile of yours."_

It felt too cheesy as I sent it, but, like I told him before... I wasn't used to this kind of thing, but I was _really_ trying.


End file.
